Adolph Sutro

Adolph Sutro (29 April 1830-8 August 1898) was Mayor of San Francisco from 7 January 1895 to 3 January 1897, succeeding Levi Richard Ellert and preceding James D. Phelan. He was a member of the Populist Party.

Biography
Adolph Sutro was born in Aachen, Prussia on 29 April 1830 to a family of German Jews, and, educated as an engineer, he arrived in the United States in 1850. In 1860, he envisioned the creation of the "Sutro Tunnel", a drainage tunnel connected to the Comstock Lode in northern Nevada. While living in Virginia City, he made a fortune from the Comstock Lode, and he sold out before conditions could worsen, departing rich for San Francisco, California. He made large real estate investments, and "Mount Sutro" was named after him. He provided diversions and culture for the average person, leading to the Populist Party drafting him to run for mayor on their 1894 ticket. He won on an anti-big business platform, opposing the Southern Pacific Railroad's tight hold over local businesses. However, he was ill suited for political work and failed to boost his party's popularity, and he died in 1898, a year after leaving the title of Mayor.